Castle On the Corner

It was a unique experience playing with Warm Morning under the scorching Piacenza sun at the height of last summer. Unique also, beacause rather than playing with the full band Andrea and Simone made do on their own accompanied only by their acoustic guitars. All the songs sounded new to me, but I assume they played most of what now make up their second album Too Far From the Stars, a self-released lp in 500 numbered copies.

Second album? Yes in 2005 the brothers released an album called Feather, another self-release, but then 6 of the 10 tracks (plus a new song) saw a more proper release as the Silver Rain ep on Shelflife, the first in the 1000 series and the first release by the 'new' Shelflife. A convenient way to get your hands on the remaining songs that made up Feather is to pick up the 3" cd that came out on Series Two last year. Or maybe not all that convenient, since it's part of their ep club, which means you can only get it as part of a parcel of 5 eps by different bands. So that's three of the four other songs accounted for, the last one "Diamond Lies" was on the compilation Series Two Vol. 2 in 2008. Last year a second ep was released on Edition 59, featuring three songs from the upcoming lp.

But now it's here! Definitely a progression from their previous work, it sounds less folky and more like sunshine pop. You can really hear the influence from Roger Nichols that they mention themselves. It is a very ambitious production full of lush orchestration and unusual instruments, and in scope I can only compare it to Butcher Boy's React Or Die among last year's releases. One of my immediate favourites is "Catch the Thrill" with its rim clicking smoothness. "What a Nice Day" is probably the closest to the sound of Silver Rain, all stripped-down folk-rock and banjo solo. "I Curse the Day I Met You" relies on ukelele and piano while building up a complex blanket of sustained notes. Below you'll find another great song, called "I'll Be Fine".

Also ready soon is The Rookies' second album. The Rookies is Italy's best garage revival group since The Others and features Simone on guitar and a singer that looks and sounds like a curly Lenny Helsing. They share The Thanes' love of Dutch freakbeat and on Out of Fashion - released on Teen Sound (run by Massimo of The Others and Misty Lane) in 2005 - they cover The Outsiders, The Bumble Bees and The Motions. There's also a version of the classic "I Want to Live" by Sweden's The Mascots, a brilliant take on "I Don't Care" by Thor's Hammer not to mention some quality originals. For the new album they've given up covers and have focused on developing their own material. The results, judging from the new songs on myspace, are astounding. I can't wait to hear the jangle of "Another Rainy Morning" on vinyl!

CLOUD 113 Warm Morning - I'll Be Fine